{oneshot} How to Win at Stalemate PG
How to Win at Stalemate
Summary - A series of conversations that Amon and Korra never had, outside the scope of fighting and into their hearts and minds. They never reach an understanding, but they realize they both simply want one thing-peace.
Disclaimer - I do not own Korra nor any of her sexy companions.
A/N - Like many others, I was both excited and nervous about LoK coming out. Now, I think the writers came up with a great overarching plot that is both realistic and compelling. When you've settled for a shaky peace between the four elements, where is there animosity left but between benders and non-benders?
I think Korra and Amon are characters really well-fleshed out for the respective sides they take, and I'm sorry to see that Nickelodeon has chosen to give more screen time to teenage drama than than the actual story. (Because really Korra? Really Mako? Really Bolin? Really Asami? Really just all of you? Control your hormones, damn it!) This is what I think might happen if they were stuck in a room together and all they could do is talk. Lots of debating, story-telling, and an odd sort of pseudo-romance in the making.
Amon
Korra
Amon!
Avatar.
Why haven't you come and faced me alone, you coward?
Your words are of little consequence to me.
Then why are you so afraid of me, huh?
Because it is your very presence that offends me and creates the biggest interference to my plans. Republic City is not the paradise it is flaunted to be. It is a culture of suppression and inequality, where the benders are in power and those without "special abilities" must learn to live with less.
Republic City was built on bending! The whole point was to create a place where all four elements can live in harmony. If you take away bending, you forget what it's like to have all four. You forget the elements, and pretty soon, you forget the whole point of having Republic City.
The four elements were what divided this world in the first place. Would it not be better to leave them in the past, and unite all the City's citizens not under a particular element or nation, but the simple status of Man? Don't you understand? This way, one would not identify oneself as a member of the Earth Kingdom living in Republic City. One would truly be a part of Republic City.
You drone, that doesn't make quality! Equality isn't making everyone the same, it's accepting everyone who's different. You're asking for people to leave behind their heritage and their ancestors. You're making them forget where they came from and why they're there.
Republic City was not founded yesterday.
What's that supposed to mean?
That its citizens do not need a reason to be there. Their goals are not larger than life and their desires are not strong or unseemly. Life may be a constant war for you, Avatar, but the average citizen simply wants a good home and a loving family. They want opportunity in their education and careers.
I don't know what Revolution you've been following, but from my point of view, you're not doing that. You're not spreading love, or comfort, or peace anywhere in Republic City. The only thing you spread is fear and chaos. You hurt people and destroy things. That's why you don't actually care about Republic City, because you're not the solution, you're just another problem!
Hello Avatar.
What is it, Amon? Have you thought about what I said?
Yes, and I have learned much.
See? Now that's-
You are young, naïve, and foolish.
Wait, what.
Not only has your heavily guarded upbringing raised you to ignorance of the outside world, but it has led you to become vain and overconfident. You believe that, as the Avatar, you are the world's hero. You are the strongest and the wisest, and you can solve all the world's problems with your extravagant bending.
No. No! This isn't about me thinking I'm so great! I didn't ask to be the Avatar, I was born into this role and now I have to earn it! I know I'm good at bending, not even you can say I'm not, but I know I need to get better at a lot of other stuff too before I solve any problems!
And what, pray tell, are your problems?
To stop evil little snots like you.
Did you ever stop to consider that there is no good and evil? That you are not definitely good, and those who oppose you are not definitely evil? To you, I am your antagonist. And to me, you are my antagonist.
That doesn't surprise me in the least. I'm in your way and you're in mine, and sometimes I think there's no telling who's gonna make it out of this. All I know is that your message is actually hurting people. You're taking away their bending! People's lives are built upon that, it's why they have their job or why they play a sport. Sometimes, it's just what makes them feel good about themselves!
You say my actions hurt people. Your actions hurt people as well. Every step you take on the side of benders leads to more lives of non-benders being stepped on, taken advantage of, and destroyed.
So I hurt your people, you hurt mine.
…Yes. In a sense.
Well, I'm not buying it. Because see, I know I need a wake up call! I can't air-bend, my spirituality is shit, I haven't traveled nearly as much as Avatar Aang did when he was just half my age. But at least I know where my shortcomings are, and how I should improve. But you haven't even gotten to the first step. You need to open your eyes.
My eyes are open, Avatar. They have been, since I was young and scarred for the very first time.
I admit, I don't know what it's like to be a non-bender.
Very good.
But you don't know what it's like to be a bender either! And let me tell you, it's the greatest feeling on earth! You feel like you can do anything. It's more than just fighting, and I love fighting, it's like you're really special, and you're worth something to this world.
Oh, I have never felt like a bender. But I have known what it is to be at the mercy of a bender. I know the feeling when a bender thinks he can do anything, and while he may feel powerful and esteemed, I assure you, the other end of the scale is not so pleasant.
You feel pure, unadulterated terror. You feel as if you are helpless and at the mercy of a much higher foe. And while the bender feels great, as if he's special, as if he's of great worth, all you feel is the need to be safe again.
Amon, I've noticed something.
What is it?
You only look at one end of the scale. You only think about the bad things that bending has done. But you don't even consider the good things. Like water-bending can heal people, it's a skill I learned and it's a skill that can cure sickness and fix injuries, even save lives! And fire, fire can cook food and keep you warm, it's the reason you have energy and light and everything. Earth-bending can build entire cities! And the air-benders are the most peaceful people in the world! You can't just forget that side.
You make a good point, to which I have two counterpoints. Firstly, we have modern medicine to cure sickness and fix injuries, we have no need for the ancient practice of healing anymore. You do not need to be a bender to start a fire or build a city. And as I recall, the peace air nomads were wiped away a long time ago by a fire-bender.
But-
Secondly, you accuse me of being one-sided when you are much the same. You are unquestionably biased because you are a talented bender and have found much joy in the practice. But you conveniently forget that it has both healed and killed people. It has both made them warm and burned them to the ground. It has both made and destroyed cities.
You're thinking of the 100-Year War, aren't you?
One hundred years of suffering under the mad siege of the Fire Nation, only to be brought to an end by a rag-tag team of child benders. A sufficient example, I believe, that the pain that bending causes far outweighs the good it does.
Look, the Avatar-
You.
I-but-fine! Me! I, the Avatar, but previously known as Avatar Aang thank you very much, wasn't even awake the entire time! And when he did wake up, he did everything he could to put a stop to it! He wasn't the only one, it's not like people helplessly waited around a hundred years for the Avatar to show up. The Earth Kingdom was fighting, the Water Nation was fighting, they were doing all they could to put a stop to it.
The War wasn't awful because of benders. It was awful because certain people wanted too much power, and they were convinced that they would stop at nothing to gain that power.
Once again, you overlook the weight of bending and particularly its negativity in the situation. Who are the most powerful people in the world, but benders? And how does one become corrupted by power, if not by bending? The damage that was caused, by fire-benders, earth-benders, and water-benders alike, were catastrophic.
You can't have a war without a few battle scars.
Agreed.
Okay.
But do you know how you as Avatar Aang defeated the Fire Lord? He took away his bending, so as to ensure that he would never harm anyone ever again. Is that not justice?
For all the people he hurt, yes, that was justice. It was a way to punish him without killing him. But what you're doing is different. You're not taking away people's bending because they're waging a war, you're doing it just because they're benders!
Am I? If you recall, Avatar, at my Equalist rally I took away the abilities of a few choice benders. They were not innocents, they were leading criminals. They abused their power of bending and applied it in immoral ways. They were very good at bending, much like yourself.
Don't compare me to them! In case you haven't noticed, I'm not looking to start a war or cause any crime. I'm here to use my bending to help people. You're not just looking to punish criminals. You want to target every bender. You think that every bender is bad, or greedy, or power-hungry, and that's just wrong.
Do not think me so blind. I know not every bender is blinded by power. But every leader who is blinded by power is a bender. Their abilities make them believe they are invincible, god-like even, their power only serves to fuel their greed. Positions of power are so often held by benders that it provides ample opportunity to take advantage of it, to take one path or the other.
Are you saying that if you get rid of bending, you get rid of war? You think that people will just stop fighting because they can't bend?
No. There will always be war.
People will always fight. They'll always disagree. They'll never stop disagreeing.
As we are.
…Yeah. Like us.
Y'know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm sick of arguing with you.
…I see.
Look at this city. Isn't it great? You grew up here, right? And you love it, you wouldn't be doing what you were doing if you didn't love it. As twisted as it is, you think you're saving Republic City that way.
It was both a wonderful and terrible experience. And…
And?
And I do love Republic City. Very much.
I mean, just look at it! It's beautiful! The first night I was here I just couldn't stop looking at everything, even though I was arrested and Chief Bei Fang was a complete jerk about it.
The city and its nation does what no other nation can do. It is modern and forward-thinking. It aims for a body of people not of a certain nation or inclination toward a certain bending, but just that. A body of people. It offered a home to many who forcibly uprooted from the colonies, and created opportunity to those who saw none in their home countries.
It's wonderful.
It is.
My favorite parts are the statues. You can't hate or fear bending when you look at them, you just can't. All you can feel is…amazed. That these people were all friends, and they didn't just stop a war that went on for a hundred years, they built something out of it! When I see the statue of Aang by the coast, I just feel in awe of him. I really wish I could talk to him.
As Avatar, you are not only link to the four elements. You are also the bridge between this world and the Spirit World.
Yeah, and I kinda need my bending for that. Which, if you haven't noticed, you want to take away.
Do you really need your bending to access the Spirit World?
Don't I?
Do you?
It is not only a question of ethics.
Hmm? How's that?
It is also a question of opportunity. Benders naturally have more skill than non-benders, and a high quantity of jobs are open solely to benders. Even when these jobs could be geared toward benders and non-benders alike, the employment policies are clearly biased in favor of benders.
But that doesn't mean non-benders don't have jobs. And a lot of non-benders are good at things that benders aren't.
Like what? Benders dominate the athletics, the police force, the council, even the more mundane factory and construction work. Young benders often bully their non-bending counterparts at school, as older ones do at work. The minute a bender is born, he has more chances and opportunities than any of his non-bending peers.
I guess I haven't thought about it that way.
Well, think hard on it.
Is what you're doing actually legal?
What do you mean?
I guess it's a stupid thing to ask. Villains don't care if they break laws, that's kind of the whole point. But you don't think you're a villain, do you?
Correct. It is my right to protest and rally.
So you actually are allowed to do all this?
How well-versed are you on the topic of human rights?
Eh, a little rusty.
But you understand that the United Republic of Nations is a republic, and with that is promised proper representation and unalienable rights?
I know that. The Council is made up of leaders from every nation, that's supposed to make sure every nation exists in harmony in the Republic.
It is that, but it is also harmony of the people. The Republic is not a monarchy, and the people are not subjects but citizens each individually entitled to their natural rights. And such unalienable rights are to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Every citizen is entitled to live their life according to their individual pursuit of happiness. It is when that pursuit infringes on the pursuits of others that their own rights become revoked. And as I also operate under the freedom of expression, it is my right to see that these rights are revoked.
So you're saying that everyone deserves to be happy.
Yes.
But if your happiness hurts others, then you don't deserve to be happy.
Yes.
That's up to Chief Bei Fang to decide, not you.
Chief Bei Fang acts upon law written by Man. I act upon a higher law, a law we were all born with and set to live by.
But you're doing what you said you were trying to stop. You're ruining other people's happiness. You're taking away their bending and their lives, you're taking away their right to live the way they wanna live.
I told you once that the consequences of involving bending are catastrophic.
Yeah, and I told you once that bending made you feel really special, and worth something. Those weren't exactly the best words. I see now that they did kinda make me sound like I was better than everyone else. But it's a little bit different.
It's what makes you feel like the best thing in the world, but to yourself. And that feeling happens to everybody, just in a different way. For some people, like Asami, it's driving a car. Or for Pema, taking really good care of her family. It's what makes you feel alive, and really, really happy. I just wish you could see that.
Hello Avatar.
Hi Amon. Is that tea?
Yes. Would you like some?
Um, sure. Thanks.
It is said that the Great Dragon of the West gave up his title and his bending to open a small tea shop in the city of Ba Sing Se. He was content to brewing tea and playing Pai Sho for the rest of his days. A worthy pursuit.
Huh. I didn't expect you to know too much about a fire-bender.
All aspects of history interest me, especially the history of my enemies.
Do you have a favorite?
No.
Really? Because I pegged you for a Zuko fan from the start.
Do you ever take that mask off?
Not in public.
But why? I mean, I know the story. I heard it at your rally. I'm-it's-I'm sorry, it was terrible. But did you really get so scarred that you never wanted anyone to look at you again?
You mistaken my intent. I do not hide in shame or vanity. At first, I hid for practicality. As a freshly deformed young man, it was difficult for others to look at me, and so I decided to alleviate the heavy weight of their misery. When I formed the Equalists, I knew a Revolution should not be garnered around the face of one. I fashioned this mask so that I could remain anonymous and be the face of many, yet still be their leader.
Wow.
Are you horrified?
No, I guess I just understand. Sort of. I pity you, I feel awful that something like that happened to you, but I'm also glad that you were able to make something out of it, even though I still disagree with you. Does that make any sense?
It is a contradiction, just as my own experience was. I was never more afraid than I was that night. It was excruciating physical pain first, and then the emotional pain I suffered from the loss of my family. Yet I was able to take that pain and fashion it as my sword and shield.
Well, you really succeeded there.
And how is that?
That night you ambushed me, the night I challenged you to meet me alone…I was never more afraid than I was that night.
But you grew stronger because of it.
Yeah. I suppose I did.
Korra.
Yes, Amon?
You have made many compelling arguments. You are not the rash, pampered child I thought you to be. But I still do not agree with you. My cause is my life and the reason I continue to fight, because with my methods, I believe I can make the world a better place.
You do not need to go against me. You are a strong and capable young woman, and the role of an international peace-maker would suit you well. You could convince people to willingly give up their bending, and no war would be waged, and all risks of corruption would be erased. And then, you could remain the Avatar, a non-bending Avatar of a world of non-benders.
I was about to say almost the same thing. I see where you're coming from, and I understand your problems, but that's not the way to solve it. You could teach people! We could teach people! About not abusing your bending, about how you can still stand up for yourself and be really useful if you're a non-bender. This isn't a matter of getting rid of something, it's about controlling it. That's why I'm asking for your help.
What you ask of me, I could not do.
Yeah, well, neither could I.
I see we are at stale mate then.
I guess we are.
It is a pity. I would like to have worked with you, Avatar, headstrong and stubborn though you might be.
Haha. Right back atcha, big boy.